Yorkshire Division Two: Old Grovians 35 West Park Leeds 19

OLD Grovians secured another five points yesterday on the way to what they hope will be mid-table safety.

But the curiosity from this derby at Elm Tree Farm was how the hosts, having established a 30-0 lead, then managed to concede two tries while the visitors had two players in the sin-bin.

Referee Nick Leadbeater showed the yellow card to fly half Eddie Crossland for running in in the 54th minute and team-mate Jeff Sutcliffe for dissent after a melee that seemed to come out of nowhere, although there was a bit of niggle in the first half.

But, rather than cash in with 15 against 13, the hosts conceded tries to flanker James Heap and full back Mason Knowles, with Mark Wool adding one conversion, while only scoring a try by flanker Joe Sowden themselves.

Grovians' head coach Dan Nulty explained the conundrum by saying: "West Park Leeds played with a more structured game-plan when they were down to 13.

"They ran moves off their No 9 and went through the phases while we were indisciplined, but it was good that we denied them a (four-try) bonus point as every point counts where we are in the table."

Tenth going into the match, Old Grovians leap-frogged Barnsley (lost 22-8 at Pontefract) and Thornensians (lost 29-7 at bottom club Sheffield Medicals) to climb to eighth but they are still only 11 points above a relegation berth.

The visitors, who are now only four points above the drop themselves, threatened from deep early on via Knowles and Heap without being able to nail an attack.

Grovians fly half Ben Brown put them ahead with a 17th-minute penalty, and eight minutes later centre Harry Garforth ran a nice line from a short pass to power over, Brown making it 10-0 with the conversion.

If that try was neat, however, it was bettered by their second in the 33rd minute.

No 8 Lewis Brook, who carried well in the first half but rather faded until the later stages of the second half, found scrum half Tom Gough, who dummied outside before squeezing through the smallest of gaps to put Brown in for a try, with the fly half catching the ball just inside West Park Leeds' ten-metre line before crossing the whitewash.

Five minutes later, Brook capitalised on a wheeling scrum to dive over for their third try, Brown converting before adding a penalty three minutes into stoppage time.

Leading 25-0 at the interval, Grovians replacement Elliot Cosgrove soon made an impact, putting in right winger Mark Harwood for the bonus-point try five minutes in.

Then came the melee and the dramatic turnaround in fortunes for the team that were short-handed.

The two tries had the visitors scenting a four-try bonus point as there were still 16 minutes left in the gathering gloom – matches should really kick-off at 2pm in mid-season as the light can fade dramatically on a dull afternoon in November and December – but Grovians eventually stiffened their resolve, even though skipper Joe Garforth had to leave the field with a shoulder injury in the 75th minute after putting in a massive hit.

West Park Leeds' prop Jonny Clark was held up over the line in the 78th minute but they didn't get their third try until 11 minutes into added time from skipper Clayton Hill by which time the street lights were shining brightly.

Joe Garforth said: "Our aim is to finish in mid-table and, although we only have a small squad of 22, we have three coming back next week in Ross Bannatyne, James Trenholme and Jaskaran Deu.

"But, in order to field a second team every week, we need those numbers up to 40."